Leadership on the Federal Bench

The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinstein

Jeffrey B. Morris

Provides a comprehensive study of the role of federal judges interwoven in the context of the biography of prominent scholar and judge, Jack Weinstein.

A unique study of the judicial function of the federal district courts

Written by an experienced scholar who has written histories of some of America's most influential courts, and authored briefs for cases argued in the Supreme Court.

Leadership on the Federal Bench

The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinstein

Jeffrey B. Morris

Description

Leadership on the Federal Bench: The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinstein considers the ways a particularly gifted federal judge seized the opportunities available to district judges to influence the results of the cases before him, and employed the tools available to him to make policy having a national impact. In the book, author Jeffrey Morris considers the ways in which the judge, Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York, has been limited by his position. This book adds to the slim literature about the policy-making role of district judges applying the work of legal historians, political scientists and those trained in the law. Focusing upon an admitted judicial activist - perhaps the most famous, innovative and controversial district judge sitting today - the book permits a close look at activism at the trial level. Leadership on the Federal Bench: The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinsteinbegins by analyzing the job of a federal district judge and why it is profitable to study Judge Weinstein. Related topics include Weinstein's background before appointment to the bench; the political and legal environment within which Weinstein has judged and the characteristics of the district in which he sat and its possible impact on him. Part of the book focuses on Weinstein's judicial output for each of his four decades on the bench. Cases are drawn from a diverse number of areas, among them the areas of civil rights, freedom of speech, search and seizures, organized crime and political corruption cases, evidence and procedure. Finally, conclusions are made on the role of district courts, judicial activism in general, along with a summary of Judge Weinstein's career.

Leadership on the Federal Bench

The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinstein

Jeffrey B. Morris

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Note: Location of the Weinstein Oral History and Other Sources Note: On Footnotes and Abbreviations Introduction: Jack B. Weinstein and the Work of the Federal District Courts Chapter 1: "All the Facts of Real Life Revealed in our Work": The "Job" of a Federal District Judge Chapter 2: The Years before Appointment to the Bench, 1921-67 Chapter 3: The Political and Legal Environment within which Jack Weinstein Judged: The Nation and the District, 1967-2007 Chapter 4: Characteristics of Jack Weinstein's Judging Chapter 5: "An Activist Seeker of Troublesome Issues": Jack Weinstein's First Decade on the Bench, 1967-76 Chapter 6: "Making the Unequal equal through the Alchemy of the Law:" Growing Renown, 1977-86 Chapter 7. "Imaginative Reformer" and "Vindicator of the Ideal of a Judge": Jack Weinstein's Work, 1987-96 Chapter 8. "Under the Blindfold, Does Justice Weep?": Jack Weinstein and Sentencing Chapter 9: "Feeling 'like the Man of La Mancha Pursuing Enamored Justice': Jack Weinstein's Judicial Work, 1997-2007 Chapter 10: Bringing Justice to Large Groups of People: Mass Torts and Class Actions (I) Chapter 11: Bringing Justice to Large Groups of People: Mass Torts and Class Actions (II) Conclusions

Leadership on the Federal Bench

The Craft and Activism of Jack Weinstein

Jeffrey B. Morris

Author Information

Professor Jeffrey B. Morris began teaching at the City College of CUNY and then taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1988, he taught law as a Professor at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center of Touro College. Professor Jeffrey B. Morris has written or edited over a dozen books and was commissioned to write histories of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York, and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.